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5,275 attendees – the largest to date
Closing Keynote with Tim Ash at 3:30 – Site Tuners
7th Annual Pinnacle Awards with Shawn Collins and Missy Ward
Affiliate of the Year
-Rhinofish Media (Pat Grady)
-Skimlinks
-Tricia Meyer
Winner is Rhinofish Media Pat Grady
Affiliate Manager of the Year
-Geno Prussakov
-Jon Nunez
-Matt McWilliams
Winner is Jon Nunez
Exceptional Merchant
-Amazon
-Decorative Ceiling Tiles
-Under Amour
Winner is Under Amour
Affiliate Marketing Advocate
-Brian Littleton
-Performance Marketing Association
-Senator Dick Durbin
Winner is Senator Dick Durbin
OPM/Agency of the Year
-AffiliateManger.com
-Greg Hoffman Consulting
-Schaff-PartnerCentric
Winner is Schaff-PartnerCentric
Tool/Service of the Year
-Aweber
-BrandVerity
-Skimlinks
Winner is BrandVerity
Affiliate Marketing Legend Award
Winner is Mike Mackin
Award accepted by Joe Sousa, Rae Hoffman, Pat Grady, and Kellie Stevens
On to the keynote with Julie Clark
Founder of Baby Einstein
Raising a Business
When starting a business you don’t always set out to start one, you just see a need in the marketplace.
She just really wanted to pee alone. She didn’t like what was currently on tv for kids, she wanted to expose them to classical music, poetry.
What would be a babies perspective on the world?
Went from 100,000 dollars in sales the first year to $22 million in five years.
How did she do it?
She moved an idea forward.
She wanted to get her products into the Right Start store. She shopped there herself. She got advice to go to a trade show. She went to Toy Fair. She didn’t know what to expect. She was trying to connect with the Right Start people, they were not exhibiting, just walking around looking at the merchants. She spent 2 days walking around looking at name badges.
She gave them her video and went home. A month went by and she cold called the company, just had her first name. The woman she had given the video to had left the company so she was able to find her replacement and talk to her. They accepted 10 videos for 10 stores.
It flew off the shelves for two reasons: it had a great name and they would buy it and their babies loved it.
Right Start was great for exposure because it didn’t get lost in a big store.
Baby Einstein got a lot of buzz because it was a good product.
When they sold the company after 5 years they only had 5 employees. It was a small business, not a lot of overhead. Customer service was terrific. They dealt with problems the way they wanted things to be taken care of.
Diversify. They went into publishing. Made a deal with Disney to sell books. Started selling products around the world.
Innovate. Amazing how marketing has changed. They had to go from VHS to DVD.
Goodwill. They started getting calls from larger retailers like Wal-mart, but they didn’t want to let down their smaller stores. They gave them a special dvd with a free cd.
My top 10 list!
To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence. – Mark Twain
It is important to be unique and terrific to be first.
Money. The first video cost $15,000 but they were always able to support the business with their cash flow. They never borrowed money and they didn’t have to answer to investors.
Determination. You can’t do it half-assed. You have to do it completely. You have to believe and go for it.
You have to work hard.
You want to have a good team. People you care about.
Racing.
Working from home where you are comfortable.
Just remember what you are all about. What are your ethics, core values.
Philanthropy. Give back. With John Walsh they created the Safe Side.
Breast Cancer Survivor. Wrote a book called You are the Best Medicine, not for profit. Proceeds go to charity. Book lets kids know their love is so important when mom or dad is sick.
You look at what you have. All of us start with a blank slate.
She is now starting a new company. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur. Baby Bytes hatching in 2013.
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